Reading about education reform these past few weeks has left me feeling a bit bewildered! Especially concerning the “Finnish Way”and how it relates to “Foreign Innovations.”

Going into Finnish Lessons, I anticipated reading about some revolutionary new ideas. I expected ideas so radical from those I know that my mind would be changed right away. I expected to form a brand new concept of what is needed to correct the struggles facing our country’s education system right now.

I was surprised to read this:

“Many foreign observers have been surprised that they see only a few originally Finnish innovations practiced in classrooms. A closer look at the origin of Finland’s current pedagogical models, school improvement practices, and education innovation in general reveals another intriguing characteristic of Finland’s schools: Many of the innovations that have made Finnish schools blossom can be traced back to other countries, often to the United States. This is surprising given Finland’s strong position as one of the most innovative societies and knowledge economies in the world” (Stahlberg, p. 3296).

This paragraph blew me away. I had no idea that Finland’s success is due in large part to the ideas of other countries, especially the one I’m currently living and teaching in.

Stahlberg goes on to say, “so common is the reliance on U.S ideas in Finland that some have come to call the Finnish school system a large scale laboratory of American education innovation.” (p.3309) and also “many visitors from the United States often note that what they see in Finish schools reminds them of practices they had seen in many schools in the United States in the 1970’s and 1980’s” (p. 3369).

So, the ideas that are proving extraordinarily beneficial in Finnish schools are originally from America. The ideas are coming from here. They were prevalent in the seventies and eighties. My question now is, what happened? What happened to using those successful ideas like cooperative learning, multiple intelligences, and alternative classroom assessments? Why did we stop focusing on those notions and start down a completely opposite path?

I’m sure finding the exact answers to when and why are impossible. As with everything, multiple factors have contributed to this 180 degree switch in procedure.

In my preliminary search for the answers, I came across an interesting timeline of educational articles spanning from the eighties to today. If you’re reading this and you’re curious you should give it a look:

http://www.edweek.org/ew/collections/30-years/timeline.html

Looking at the timeline confirms what Zhao talks about in World Class Learners. In the late eighties school choice became a hot topic in regards to adding competitiveness to schools. “Standards” also became a large topic of conversation and debate around that time frame. As time has gone on more and more elements of schooling have become regulated by federal programs.

It doesn’t seem to be working for us. I really wonder what it will take to turn us back to the ideals of the seventies and eighties? Hopefully we can use Finland as an example and come to realize OUR ideas are what are successful there. Maybe WE should use them!!!!

Sources:

K-12 America since 1981. (2011, August 22).Education Week. doi:http://www.edweek.org/ew/collections/30-years/timeline.html

Sahlberg, P., Ravitch, D., & Hargreaves, A. (2015).Finnish lessons 2.0: what can the world learn from educational change in Finland?(2nd ed.). New York: Teachers College, Columbia University.

Zhao, Y. (2012).World class learners: educating creative and entrepreneurial students. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.